FDR and the Post Office

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, N.Y. will host an author talk and book signing this weekend with Anthony P. Musso, author of FDR and the Post Office: A Young Boy's Fascination; A World Leader's Passion.

On the museum's Web site, Musso is described as a longtime "philatelic enthusiast", who shares FDR's philosophy regarding the educational value of stamp collecting.

According to the museum, "Franklin D. Roosevelt's interest in the Post Office came at a young age as family members regularly sent him foreign postage stamps while engaged in trade overseas. He embraced the hobby as a means to bolster his interest in geography and world history by documenting various facts related to each stamp's origin, and its significance to the issuing country's heritage."

"When stricken with infantile paralysis, the thirty-nine year-old found much comfort and intellectual stimulation from working with his growing stamp collection. So significant was its impact at the time that he repeatedly credited his involvement in the hobby as having saved his life."

While Roosevelt was well-known as an avid stamp collector, he also was very much involved in the construction of 406 post office buildings nationwide.

For more information and to purchase a copy, click here.